Federal Judge Rules Bitcoin Is Real Money

It's actually money, says judge (and SEC) Trendon Shavers is accused of being the Bernie Madoff of Bitcoin. The SEC is going after him for allegedly running a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme from 2011 to 2012. Through his Texas-based “Bitcoin Savings & Trust,” he, under the name “pirateat40,” took in 700,000 Bitcoin — worth $4.5 million at the time — from investors to whom he promised an up to 7% return. In fact, he was paying out Bitcoin from later investors to the earlier investors, taking a hefty cut for himself, and the scheme all eventually fell apart. Shavers “misappropriated” over 150,000 Bitcoin, according to the SEC, but made poor Bitcoin-for-dollar day trades and wound up only making about $150,000 off of them. He used that money for “rent, car-related expenses, utilities, retail purchases, casinos, and meals,” according to the SEC. His 66 investors from across the country ...